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Monthly Archives: November 2013

Opened a bottle of 2003 Tatiarra Trademark Shiraz for dinner. 15.5% alcohol and a multi regional blend from Heathcote in Victoria and from McLaren Vale in South Australia. Winemaker Ben Riggs.

Interesting Tatiarra Story

2003 Tatiarra Trademark Shiraz

Well cellared. No wine travel on cork

The wine was perfectly cellared (as you can see from the lack of travel on the cork).

It was very dumb on opening and needed a good 2 hours of decanting before reaching its best. Lovely brick red colour. Incredible rich and pungent nose full of bright red berries, pepper and spice, violets, marzipan, and fruit cake. A delighful nose full! Rich and creamy mouthfeel with lashings of pepper, spicy oak, berry fruit and cedar. Great structure and well integrated tannins. Very long finish. A true over the top hedonistic Aussie wine. Will keep easily for another 5+ years. Score 95/100. Purchase price $60.

1998 Orlando Jacaranda Ridge Cabernet. From the Coonawarra region and grown in its famous Terra Rossa soils in South Australia. I remember buying a 6 pack of this wine in 2001 and stashing it away in the bowels of my cellar. It has aged brilliantly. On opening, a beautiful waft of dark friut, ribena blackcurrent juice, spicy oak and dusty cocoa. Brick red with a dark core. Smelt far fresher than a 15 year old wine had any right to!! Sensuous palate of soft berry fruit, moccha and cedar. Dusty well integrated tanins and a very long drying finish. Still fresh, clean and mouthcoating. Perfect accompaniment for a rare scotch fillet steak followed by St Agur cheese. Yum! Rating 96/100. Purchased $46.99 in 2001. (See photo)

After 3 days of searching for a good wine in Istanbul, I’ve failed! Been to several restaurants and asked for a good Turkish red or white wines and tried at least 6 syrahs and cabernets and unfortunately most were very average. I know Turkey can make some good wines but have failed in my quest to find any.

Spice Market – dozens of stalls full of exotic spices

However, the food and antiquities in Istanbul are amazing. It really is a place where East has met the West. The people are quite friendly, although very little English is spoken. And if you like lamb, you are in luck! My favourite places have been the Spice Bazaar, Hagia Sophia Museum, the Sultanahmet (Blue Mosque), Topkapi Palace, Kariya Mosque (or Chora, an ancient Byzantine Church), and the Military Museum and Culture Centre.

Getting around is surprisingly easy on the tramway system, or you can use a cab if you don’t mind the frenetic driving and gridlocked traffic much of the day.

Purchased from Nicks in 2008 (still has $39.99 price tag attached), opened 9 Nov 13. Lovely light gold colour, intense and fresh Burgundian nose of toasty oak, cantaloupe and passion fruit. Rich and mouth filling on the palate with vanillan oak, peach, grapefruit and lively acidity and nice minerality. Secondary honey and caramel characters emerging. A delightful wine, enjoyed at lunch with chilli prawn salad with crumbled St Agur Cheese and balsamic. Perfect match! With a Stelvin cap, this Curly Flat can keep quite a few more years. Rating 94/100 (My wife felt I was a bit harsh and gave it a 96/100)

Day 2. A great sunny day by the sea to finish the Curly Flat. Still fresh with honey and citrus nose and a hint of struck match. The palate was not quite as rich and creamy as Day 1 but still with lovely texture and balance…

Oliver’s Taranga HJ Shiraz is their flagship wine from vines planted in 1948. Only 600 dozen of this wine was produced. McLaren Vale in South Australia is known for producing big, rich, ripe and earthy reds. This 2006 wine from a good year is no exception. There is an uncompromising quality and delightful richness to this wine.

A big wine and bigger steak

It poured with an intense purple colour and quite opaque despite its age. The nose was rich with floral notes, perfumed, spicy and redolent with dark berry fruits. There was also dark earth, and leather evident. On the palate there was a creaminess and texture that flooded the senses with dark berries, vanillan oak, dark chocolate and clotted cream. Not for the faint hearted! This rich wine went well with a rare scotch fillet steak (ie prime rib minus the bone). A stronger man might finish with a cigar and vintage port…….

Score 95/100 and will keep for another 5 years, but drinking superbly now. Price AU$50

Day 2: Still going strong! Lovely blackcurrent, spice, dusky oak and white pepper nose. Palate still rich and full with blackcurrent, chocolate and earth. Almost too strong for the Osso Bucco. Strongly recommend this wine – current vintage 2010 also a cracker!

Purchased from Nicks in 2008 (still has $39.99 price tag attached), opened 9 Nov 13. Lovely light gold colour, intense and fresh Burgundian nose of toasty oak, cantaloupe and passion fruit. Rich and mouth filling on the palate with vanillan oak, peach, grapefruit and lively acidity and nice minerality. Secondary honey and caramel characters emerging. A delightful wine, enjoyed at lunch with chilli prawn salad with crumbled St Agur Cheese and balsamic. Perfect match! With a Stelvin cap, this Curly Flat can keep quite a few more years. Rating 94/100 (My wife felt I was a bit harsh and gave it a 96/100)

Day 2. A great sunny day by the sea to finish the Curly Flat. Still fresh with honey and citrus nose and a hint of struck match. The palate was not quite as rich and creamy as Day 1 but still with lovely texture and balance, finishing with nice acid and grapefruit flavours. Could keep a bit longer, but not in my house…. Went well with Dukkha prawns, apple salad, St Agur Blue cheese, and pomegranate molasses dressing. And a great view to boot!

2 November 2013. It’s Spring Racing season in Melbourne Australia. A time for the glitz and glamour of the horse races with ladies fashion, great racing and hopefully a few winning bets. Today is Derby Day, one of the major race days of the spring racing carnival.

With the weather being a warm 30 degrees celsius it was the perfect occasion for dressing up, heading for the track and drinking some fine champagne. Our friends Peter and Jane bought a bottle of 2004 Dom and we bought a 2004 Grand Annee….and what a great pair of wines!

2004 Dom Perignon. Flagship wine of Moët and Chandon

The 2004 is a blend of 53% Pinot Noir and 47% Chardonnay from an excellent vintage in the Champagne region. The wine has a persistent bead and lovely mousse on pouring. The nose was vibrant and had lovely floral, honeycomb and citrus characters. The palate was sensational with lovely fresh acidity, a light toastiness, pear, grapefruit and hints of honeycomb. Rich, elegant and lingering on the finish. Score 96/100 with great cellaring potential. AU$150-$190

2004 Bollinger Grand Annee. Marquee wine of Bollinger

This is a blend of 66% Pinot Noir and 34% Chardonnay sourced from Grand Cru vineyards (76%) and Premier Cru vineyards (24%). The wine poured with a light bead and rich creamy mousse. The nose was instantly rich and intense with grapefruit, white peach, lemon curd, praline and fresh baked bread. There was a mouth filling richness consistent with the higher percentage of Pinot Noir in comparison to the Dom. There were flavours of grapefruit, peach, honeycomb and fresh toast with a long and persistent finish. Another sensational wine! Score 96/100. Price range AU$150-200.

Preferred Wine?? Preference came to personal taste, the Dom had more acid, minerality and elegance and the Grand Annee was a richer, creamier mouthfilling style. Me, I had a slight preference for the Grand Annee, but would drink either any day of the week! The only sour note was that I didn’t win a single dollar from all my bets!! Can’t win them all…….

A special wine to celebrate Halloween! After a deluge of young trick or treaters, and running out of chocolate gifts, its time to relax with a special wine. The 2006 Bernard Morey Batard Monrachet is a great expression of a top chardonnay from the Burgundy region of France. Batard-Montrachet is one of the five Montrachet Grand Cru vineyards that remains one of the best places in the world to find Chardonnay. It’s only about 28 acres and yields are very low.

In the glass, the colour is a lovely gold with a green hue. After several swirls the nose opens with a pungent rush of grapefruit, melon, nougat, matchstick and spicy oak. On the palate the wine delivers a beautiful mineral mouthfeel with intense and complex flavours of toasty oak, rich fruit and a very long finish. Although there is a lot happening with this wine, it has great balance and harmony….and so drinkable! It went well with lightly spiced prawns and green salad. Nice finish to Halloween!

Day 2 and the wine is as fresh as day 1. The intensity of flavour and the balance of the wine made it very enjoyable on its own or with food. As usual with an excellent wine, the bottom the bottle comes far too quickly. A very enjoyable, but far too short, experience. The wine could clearly be cellared for another 5-10+ years.